The champagne popped just after 8:20, Tuesday morning, in the Sherbrooke St. offices of H264 Distribution, representing not one but two Quebec films that will compete for the Oscar for Best Live Action Short, Feb. 24.

Prepared for the possibility that only one of the two might be nominated, the teams had separated into different rooms to watch the announcements live online.

The nominees were named in alphabetical order, so Fauve came first; but the Fauve team’s stream was slower, and so the Marguerite team heard the news before them, letting out a huge cheer, and then another as their film was called immediately after.

“I started screaming,” recounted Farley, who had woken up at 2 a.m., not able to sleep. She spent the day with Comte and Jean-Christophe J. Lamontagne, who is the cofounder of H264 Distribution and helped the filmmakers plan their Oscar run starting in September. The directors conducted interviews all day and accepted congratulations from all sides.

Marguerite has screened at 75 festivals around the world, winning 33 prizes. The 19-minute film follows the evolving friendship between two women: an elderly patient and her nurse.

“I’m the only female director among the nominees (for Best Live Action Short),” Farley said. “I think Marguerite is a very feminine story, a very delicate story of compassion, empathy and hope. I think we need that right now on this planet.”

Fauve is a resolutely male film, tracking the fateful power struggle between two young boys as they explore a surface mine.

“I wanted to show both the harshness and vulnerability of men,” Comte said. “Growing up, we always hear that boys don’t cry and you have to be strong. As we see with these characters, sometimes you have to pass through tragedy to become vulnerable and let your defences down.”

Though his film has played at 125 festivals, winning 65 prizes, he was still in denial about the now very real possibility of winning the biggest prize of all.

“At the moment, it’s hard to believe,” he said. “It’s like a dream. I don’t think I understand the magnitude of it at the moment. I feel a mix of all kinds of emotions. It’s incredible, and it’s great motivation to keep pushing further.”

The Oscars have become an incredible springboard for Quebec films over the past decade, with Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies, Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar and Kim Nguyen’s Rebelle nominated for best foreign language film in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively.

The last Quebec film to be nominated for Best Live Action Short was Yan England’s Henry, in 2013. This is the first time two Quebec films have been nominated at the same time.

“It’s historic.” Lamontagne said.

Both films were eligible for the shortlist at that point, having won prizes at festivals recognized by The Academy. (Fauve had taken the Audience Award at Sundance in January, and Marguerite won Best Live Action Short at the Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival in August.)

They met a publicist at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, and got to work soon after.

“Our goal was to have the films talked about as much as possible, in local and international media, in order to reach the voting members of The Academy, ” Lamontagne said, “to go from the 140 films eligible to the 10 on the short list.”

Related

After both Fauve and Marguerite made the short list, December 17, Lamontagne went all-in, asking Quebec funding agency SODEC for more money for promotion, and buying a full-page add for both films in The Hollywood Reporter.

When the nominees were announced, Tuesday morning, Lamontagne was over the moon.

“It’s probably the most euphoric feeling I’ve experienced in my life,” he said.

But his job isn’t done.

He, Comte and Farley are headed to L.A. for the Oscar nominees luncheon, on Feb. 4, and will spend a couple weeks there promoting the two films in the lead-up to the big day.

“From now until February 24, we’ll be taking it to another level,” Lamontagne said. “We’ll be going to Los Angeles to meet with media and network, in hopes of bringing an Oscar home to Quebec.”

AT A GLANCE

Cinéma du Parc will screen all the Oscar-nominated fiction and animated shorts, beginning Feb. 8. For more information, visit cinemaduparc.com

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